Men and property owners likelier to use fintech in Hong Kong, PolyU survey shows
- The correlation exists in virtual bank services, online brokerage services, virtual insurance, and virtual assets, but more women adopt digital payments
- The survey also finds adoption gaps in education and income, which the report’s authors call ‘ironic’, as fintech is aimed at ‘financial inclusion’
More men and property owners use financial technology services in Hong Kong than women and non-property-owners, according to a survey conducted by Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and local fintech start-up Asklora.
The findings, released on Tuesday and covering more than 2,000 residents in the city, are consistent across four types of fintech products, including virtual bank services, online brokerage or “virtual wealth” services, virtual insurance, and virtual assets, PolyU’s Fintech Adoption Index showed.
Men are more likely to use these products, according to the survey, but more women adopt digital payments.
The correlation with property ownership is especially pronounced when it comes to virtual insurance, with 58 per cent of property owners who responded to the survey having used such services, compared with 25 per cent of non-owners.
The correlation is also strong among owners of virtual assets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with 74 per cent of virtual asset owners and 81 per cent of NFT owners being property owners, compared with 49 per cent of digital payment users.
However, the new survey found that respondents with lower education levels and poorer backgrounds are less likely to use fintech. More respondents aged between 30 and 49 use fintech than other age groups.
“We observe significant adoption gaps in education, income, age, and gender,” wrote the authors of the PolyU report. “Ironically, fintech aims to improve financial inclusion.”
The government should address the issue through subsidies and public education, the authors recommended.
Still, the survey showed that 74 per cent of all respondents have used at least two types of fintech services, with digital payments being the most pervasive. The average adoption rate across all five types of fintech services was 54 per cent.
As part of its Fintech 2025 plan, the Hong Kong government wants to scrutinise the fintech plans of all of the city’s banks, set up data sharing and other infrastructure to help small and medium-sized companies get bank loans, and provide training and support for new fintech projects.
